Boxing machine



Sept. 19, 1961 R. F. LA FORGE, JR 3,000,156

I BOXING MACHINE Filed April 9, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet I5 A or J $2 .4 w

= I ma 6 500 l o 4 2 -az .54 58 5 59 g H I I 6/ L7L r 6? 8 lrn enfor Sept. 19, 1961 R. F. LA FORGE, JR

BOXING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'Zifl/677/07 f fi i United States Patent 3,000,156 BOXING MACHINE Ray F. La Forge, Jr., Rockford, Ill., assignor to Anderson Bros. Mfg. Co., Rockford, 11]., a corporation of Illinois Filed Apr. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 805,165 19 Claims. (Cl. 53-153) This invention relates to. a packaging machine and particularly to a machine for boxing filled cups and the like.

An important object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for use in conjunction with a cup filling and capping machine, which will box the cups at a rapid rate commensurate with the rate at which the cups are filled by the filling and capping machine.

A further object of this invention is to provide an apparatus for boxing tapered cups which stacks the cups in parallel rows in the box.

A more particular object of this invention is to provide a cup packaging apparatus in which the cups are advanced along a rectilinear path by a conveyor and which apparatus has a plurality of vertically extending cup guides disposed in parallel rows for guiding the cups into a box and mechanism for feeding alternate groups of cups from the conveyor into the different rows of guides.

An important feature of this invention resides in the provision of a boxing machine having a plurality of vertically extending cup guides and wherein the cups are advanced in upright position to a point laterally offset from a respective one of the guides; the cups then tipped onto their sides into a chute and rolled therein to a position at the upper ends of the guides, and the cups thereafter uprighted as they drop into the chute to stack successive cups.

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a rear elevational view of the cup packaging machine;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the cup packaging machine;

FIG, 3 is a rear elevational view of the vertical guides for guiding the cups into a box; 7

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the vertical cup guides;

which is driven through a chain -18 by the drive for the star wheel 10 for rotation in timed relation therewith. The cups filled by the filling machine are normally discharged onto the rotating turn table and are then manually packaged in boxes. The filling machine operates at a high rate of the order of 250 to 300 cups per minute, and it has heretofore been necessary to employ at least three people to merely box the cups as they are filled by the machine. The packaging apparatus of the present invention is designed to be used in lieu of the rotatable turn table and is driven from the stub shaft 14 in timed relation with the filling of cups by the filling machine.

The support frame for the packaging machine includes a generally U-shaped base having side members 21 and a rear cross piece 22 (see FIGS. 1 and 2), and which base is supported on casters 23 to facilitate moving the machine into and out of position. Spaced uprights 25 are secured to the rear of the base and have a generally U-shaped frame attached to the upper end thereof at a level sufi'iciently high above the base to enable an operator to work comfortably on the boxing mechanism to be described more fully hereinafter. The upper frame includes a rear cross member 26, forwardly extending side members 27 and an intermediate cross member 28 secured to the side members 27 at a point inwardly of the forward ends thereof.

The cups are stacked and guided into a box designated by the letter B (see FIG. 3) by means of a cup guide 29 which is supported on the cross member 28 between the side members 27. The packaging machine is arranged to stack the cups in parallel rows in the box and for this purpose there are provided a plurality of vertically extending tubular guides, herein shown six in number, and designated 30a30f. As shown herein, the tubular guides are generally imperforate, it being understood that the guides may be otherwise formed as by wire or the like.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the cup packaging machine;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the attachment of the packaging machine to a cup filling machine;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner in which the cups are advanced to the cup guides; and

FIG. 8 is a fiagmentary sectional view through one of the cup guides taken on the plane 8-8 of FIG. 3.

The cup packaging machine of the present invention is arranged to package cups at a rapid rate and is generally adapted for use in conjunction with cup filling and capping machines of the type wherein the cups are advanced by a conveyor past the filling and capping mechanism. -The packaging machine is herein-shown applied to a cup filler The guides are mounted in parallel rows on a support plate 31 and extend through openings in the latter. Brackets 32 (see FIG. 2) underlie the support plate at opposite sides of the guides and have upwardly extending portions 33 at their rear ends which are attached to the cross member 28, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. A rectangular band 34 extends around the guides inter mediate their ends and is securedto the guides as by weld ing. The band is supported on the plate 31 by depending straps 35 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

Provision is made for stacking the cups in the guides and for discharging a preselected number of cups from each of the stacks into a box B therebelow. For this purpose, a pair of shafts 37 and 38 are mounted on bars 39 and 40 carried by the guides 30a-30f. The shafts extend alongside the rows of guides and have a plurality of arms 42 non-rotatably secured thereto. The arms extend in opposite directions from the respective shafts and have a first stop finger 43 on their lower end adapted to extend through apertures 44 (FIG. 2) in a respective one of the guides, adjacent the lower ends thereof. The arms have upper stop fingers 45 on their upper ends adapted to extend through apertures 46 in the guides. As best shown in FIG. 4, levers '48 and 49 are attached to the shafts 37 and 38 and a spring 51 extends between the and capper of the type shown in the patent to Ralph Anderson and Marvin Heifetz, No. 2,863,271.

' As disclosed more fully in the aforementioned patent, the cup filler and capper includes a star wheel 10 which engages the cups C and advances the same along a platform 11 sequentially below the filler (not shown) and capper 12. The filling machine also includes a stub shaft 14 (FIG. 1) which is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis by a bearing 15 attached to the main table. 16, and which shaft normally supports a rotatable turn table. The stub shaft has a sprocket 17 at its lower end levers to normally urge the lower stop fingers 43 through the apertures 44 into the cup guides to support a stack of cups therein. The lower fingers 43 preferably extend radially into the cup guides to engage the under surface of the cups as they are fed to the guides and support the cups therein. When the lower fingers are in their cup supporting position, the upper stop fingers 45 are posi? tioned outside the guides. The apparatus is arranged to dispense a preselected number of cups, herein shown four in number, from each of the several stacks. .For

this purpose, the upper finger '45 is positioned at adistance above the lower finger somewhat greater than the height of the stack of four cups. In addition, the upper finger 45 is arranged to extend into the respective guide at a point eccentric thereto so as to engage the tapered side of' the cup, as shown in FIG. 8, and prevent the cup from moving downwardly in the guides. Since the upper fingers extend alongside the tapered cups in the guides, it is apparent that the upper finger can be moved inwardly of the guide even when the stack of cups is at a level above the openings 46. As the fingers are moved into the guides, the lower fingers are retracted therefrom and the cups in the guides below the upper fingers drop out of the guides into the box B therebelow.

Apparatus is provided for oscillating both the shafts 37 and 38- to simultaneously discharge the cups from all of the guides and for this purpose a cam finger 51 (see FIG. 3) is attached to one of the shafts such as 38 and arranged to engage a roller 52 carried by a finger 53 on the other shaft 37, to effect oscillation of the shaft 37 in response to movement of a lever 54 connected to the shaft 38. The lever '54 is operated through a :link 55 which is connected. at its lower end to a foot operated treadle 56. The treadle, as shown in FIG. 2 is mounted on a bracket 57 attached to one of the bottom side members 21.

A plurality of depending rods or fingers '61 are attached to the guides and extend downwardly therefrom to guide the box B into position below the cup guides and to also guide the cups into the box. The rods 61 are conveniently located in the concavity between adjacent cup guides and are secured to the cup guides by means of a band 63. Additional guide rods 64 are preferably provided between the adjacent rows of cup guides, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, to laterally guide the cups as they pass from the guides into the box.

7 The cups C are advanced from the conveyor -10 on the filling and capping machine to the boxing machine by a main conveyor designated generally by the numeral '66. The aforementioned cup guides 29 are preferably located at an elevated position considerably above the filling and capping machine in order to provide suificient space t-here'below to enable an operator to comfortably insert and remove boxes from the guide rods 61. The conveyor accordingly includes an elevator portion for elevating the cups from the star wheel 10 on the filling machine to a level above the upper ends of the vertical cup guides 30a30f, and a generally horizontally extending portion which is laterally oifset from the vertically extending cup guide. The elevator portion of the conveyor includes an elongated beam 71 and which defines a cup supporting surface at the upper side thereof. The lower end of the beam is detaohably secured by a bracket 72 (FIGS. and 6) to the table '16 of the cup filling and capping ma chine. The lower end of the beam extends closely adjacent the cup supporting platform 11 of the filling machine and a curved plate 73 is provided for guiding the cups from the platform 11 onto the upper surface of the beam 71. The arcuate .guide rails 74 and 75 on the filling machine extend outwardly at the point where the elevator merges therewith to guide the cups from the star wheel onto the elevator platform 71. Guide rails 76 and 77 are provided on opposite sides of the beam 71 for guiding the cups therealong.

The upper end of the beam 71 is pivot-ally mounted between the legs of a U-shaped bracket 78 carried by the' frame of the boxing machine and the upper cup supporting surface of the beam is arranged to merge with elongated cup supporting plate 79 which extends between the side members 27 of the frame. *For reasons set forth hereinafter, the plate is spaced a short distance above the upper surface of the side rails 27 and is conveniently supported intermediate its ends by straps 81 (see FIG. '5);

The mechanism for moving the cups along the elevator platform 71 and plate 79 includes an endless chain 82 having transversely extending cup engaging lugs 83 thereon. The chain is entrained at one end over an idler sprocket 85 at the lower end of the beam 71 and at the other end over a drive sprocket 86 mounted on a gear box 87 at the side ofthe machine opposite the elevator. The upper run of the chain is supported intermediate its ends on an; intermediate idler sprocket 88 located at the upper end of the beam 71, and the lower run of the chain is supported on idler sprocket 89 (see FIG. I) mounted by a bracket 91 on the beam 71. The main conveyor is driven in timed relation with the star wheel !10 of the filling and capping machine to ad-' vance the cups away from the filling machine at a rate commensurate with the rate at which the cups are filled. As shown herein, the boxing machine is driven from the shaft '14 of the filling and capping machine and for this purpose a gear box 90 (see FIG. 1) isdetacha'bly sccured to the table 16 of the filling. machine and has meshing bevel gears 92' and 93 therein. The gear 92 and gear box 90 are preferably soarranged as to permit ready attachment and detachment of. the same from the filling machine. The gear 93 is connected through a universal joint 94, shaft 95 and universal joint 96 to a gear 97 in a gear box 98 carried by the boxing machine. The gear 97 meshes with a gear 99 on an upright shaft 101 having a bevel gear i102 at its upper end. The gear .102 is disposed in a gear box 103 adjacent' the upper end of the boxing machine and meshes with a gear 104 on a horizontally disposed shaft 105 which extends longitudinally of the boxing machine. A bevel gear 106 is provided on the shaft 105 adjacent the other end thereof and meshes with a gear 107 which drives the conveyor drive sprocket 86. In this manner, the conveyor is operated in timed relation with the filling and capping machine.

In accordance with the present invention, one group of cups is moved laterally on the main conveyor 66 and into one row of cup guides designated 3011-306 and a second group of cups are moved off the main conveyor into the other row of cup guides. As shown herein, a plurality of auxiliary conveyors designated 113-118 are mounted to extend transverse to the main conveyor, which auxiliary conveyors are arranged in groups at opposite sides of the cup guide apparatus 29. A mechanism- 108 is provided for moving groups of cups laterally on. the main conveyor onto the: auxiliary conveyors to be -advanced thereby in an upright position. The auxiliary conveyors terminate with their outer ends laterally offset from a respective one of the vertically disposed cup guides 30a-30f and cup chutes 1221- 126 extend from the ends of the auxiliary conveyors to the upper ends of the cup guides. r I

' The auxiliary conveyors 113-118 each include a driv roller 127 mounted on the shaft 105 at longitudinally spaced points therealong and an idler roller 128. The ends of the auxiliary conveyors are stepped, as best shown in FIG- 5, in accordance 'with the positions of the cup guides 3011-30 The idler rollers of each of the groups of auxiliary conveyors are similarly stepped, with the outermost idler rollers of conveyors I13 and 118 rotatably supported between brackets 13 1 and the adjacent side rail 27. The intermediate idler rollers of auxiliary conveyors 114 and 117 are'supported between brackets 13 1 and 132, and the inner idler rollers of conveyors 115 and 116 are supported on brackets 132 and 13f. A cup support platform 135 overlies the side rails 27 and extends from a point below the cup support plate 79 of the main conveyor to a point adjacent the periphery of the idler rollers. As previously described, the cup support plate of the main conveyor is spaced above the side rails 27 so that the endless belts of the auxiliary conveyors extend below the plate 79 and overlie the cup support platform 135 A U-slr'a'ped" bracket -138.extends crosswise of each gr'oupof conveyors, and a-plurality of depending guide rails 139, 140, 141 and 142 are attached to each bracket and extend longitudinally of the auxiliary conveyors for guiding the cups therealong.

The transfer mechanism 108 for moving the cups laterally off the main conveyor onto the auxiliary conveyors includes a shaft 145 extending longitudinally of the main conveyor and spaced thereabove. The shaft 145 is retatably supported at opposite ends in bearing brackets 146 and 147 and is driven in timed relation with the main conveyor through gears 148 and 149 (FIG. 5), sprocket 151, chain 152, and sprocket 153. The shaft has a pair of blades 156 and 157 attached thereto and arranged to engage the cups and move the same off the main conveyor onto the auxiliary conveyors. As will noted, the cup engaging elements 83 on the main conveyor define pockets therebetween for maintaining the cups in spaced relation and the auxiliary conveyors 115 and 116 are spaced apart a distance equal to the width of three of suchpockets. The transfer shaft 145 is rotated at a speed such that it will complete one revolution in the time that the main conveyor advances through a distance equal to six pockets on the conveyor. Consequently, as the blade 156 moves through a portion of its revolution, it will move a group of three cups off the main conveyor onto the auxiliary conveyors 113-115. Asit moves through the remainder of its revolution, the blade 156 extends out of the path of advance of the cups on the main conveyor so that a succeeding group of three cups will move along the conveyor past the auxiliary conveyors 113-115. The blade 157 is angularly displaced 180 degrees from the blade 156 and engages those cups which remain on the main conveyor and moves the same laterally off onto the auxiliary conveyors 116-118. Thus, cups are alternately moved laterally off the main conveyor onto the auxiliary conveyors 113-115 and 116-118. These cups are advanced in an upright position by the auxiliary conveyors to the respective chutes 121-126.

The chutes are of similar construction and differ only in length, each chute including a bottom wall 161 and an upstanding side wall 162 along one edge thereof. A flange 163 is provided at one end of each of the chutes and the flange on the outermost chutes 121 and 126 is attached 'to the adjacent side rail 27, while the flanges on the intermediate and inner chutes are attached to the brackets 131 and 132. The bottom wall 161 of the chutes is disposed below the centerline of the respective idler rollers so that the cups are tilted onto their side, as. they are discharged from the auxiliary conveyors into the chutes. The bottom walls of these chutes .are inclined downwardly toward the open upper end of the cup guides a-30f and, as will be noted from FIG. 5, these chutes extend to a point adjacent the outer periphery of the tubular cup guides, but off-center with respect thereto, so that the cups tip back to an upright position and fall into the cup guides. In order to prevent tapered cups from rolling in a circular path, an adjustable guide bar 165 is mounted in each chute at the side opposite the wall 162 and is adjustable as by a screw 166. The bar 165 is arranged to engage the minor or bottom end of the cup and guide the same as the cup rolls along the bottom wall in such a manner that the upper or major end of the cup is guided along the side wall 162. As the cup reaches the cut out portion 167 at the end of the chute, the cup tips back to an upright position and drops into the cup guides. A baffle plate 168 may conveniently be provided between adjacent rows of cup guides to'p'revent the cups from over-riding the upper endsof thecup guides.

From the foregoing it is thought that the operation of the device will be readily understood. Briefly, the cups are removed from the filling machine conveyorat a rate commensurate with the rate at which the cups are filled and are advanced by the main conveyor 66 to the cup support platform 79. Alternate groups of cups. are moved laterally off the platform 79 by the blades 156 and 157 ontothe conveyors 113-115 --and' 116-118; The

6 cups are advanced in an upright position on the auxiliary conveyors and are discharged thereby into the chutes 121-126. The cups tip onto their sides as they fall onto the chutes and roll downwardly along the chutes into the respective one of the vertical cup guides.

The cups do not enter all of the cup guides simultaneously. However, the cups entering the guides rest upon the lower stops 43 and are stacked in the guides. After a preselected number of cups have entered the guides, the lever 54 is operated to simultaneously discharge a plurality of cups from each of the guides into the box B therebelow. The upper stop fingers 45 are then operative to prevent movement of the cups thereabove downwardly into the guides.

Iclaim:

1. In an apparatus for packaging tapered cups comprising an upright cup guide dimensioned to loosely receive the major end of the cups, a chute extending laterally of the upper end of said cup guide adapted to have a cup roll therealong and drop into said guide, and conveyor means including a conveyor support drum disposed alongside said chute and a conveyor belt supported at one end on said drum, said belt having an upper run disposed at a level above said chute and extending transverse to said chute for advancing cups in an upright position toward said chute and for discharging the cups on their side into said chute.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said chute has a guide flange along one side, and means for maintaining one end of the cup against said flange as the cup rolls therealong to cause the tapered cup to roll in a substantially straight path. I

3. In an apparatus for packaging tapered cups comprising, an upright tubular cup guide dimensioned to loosely receive the major end of the cups, a chute extending laterally from the upper end of said cup guide and inclined longitudinally toward said guide, said chute communicating with the upper end of said guide at a point eccentric thereto so that the cups rolling down the chute tip into an upright position as they fall into the guide, and means for conveying cups to the chute.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said chute has a first flange along one side thereof adapted to engage the major end of the cup and extending along a path l-aterally offset from the side of the upright cup guide, and a second flange adapted to engage the minor end of the cup and extending along a path crosswise of the upper end of the upright cup guide.

' 5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said second flange is adjustable toward and away from said first flange.

6.' An apparatus for packaging cups in a box comprising, a group of generally upright tubular cup guides arranged in a row and each dimensioned to loosely receive the major end of a cup, a chute extending from the upper end of each of said cup guides in a direction transverse to said rows and inclined longitudinally toward the guides to have cups roll therealong into the guides, and a plurality of parallel conveyors extending generally parallel to said row and crosswise of said chutes at a level above said chutes for advancing cups in an upright position toward said chutes, said conveyors terminating at 'one'end in stepped relation to each other and at one side of the respective chute to discharge the cups moved thereby on their sides into a respective one of said chutes. I 7. The combination of claim 6 including a main feed conveyor extending crosswise of said parallel conveyors, and means for moving cups laterally off the main conveyor onto said parallel conveyors.

8. In an apparatus for packaging cups in a box comprising first and second parallel rows of generally upright tubular cup guides, a main conveyor extending transverse to said rows of cup guides, first and second groupsof auxiliary conveyors extending transverse to said main conveyor at longitudinally spaced points therealong, a chute extending from the end of each auxiliary conveyor 7 in said first and second groups to a respective one of the cup guides in the first and second rows of guides, and means for moving alternate groups of cups on the main conveyor onto said first and second groups of auxiliary conveyors.

9. The combination of claim 8 wherein the first group of auxiliary conveyors are spaced along the main conveyor from the second group of auxiliary conveyors a distance substantially equal to the spacing therealong of a number of cups corresponding to the number of com veyors in said first group.

10. In combination with a cup filling and capping machine of the type having a conveyor for advancing the cups, a boxing machine including a plurality of vertically extending cup guides, conveyor means for removing cups from the conveyor on the filling machine and for advancing the same in a rectilinear path, means for operating the conveyor on the filling machine and the conveyor means in timed relation to each other, and means operated in timed relation with said conveyor means for moving groups of cups laterally off said conveyor means and into said cup guides.

11. The combination of claim 10 wherein said con veyor means includes an upwardly inclined elevator portion and a horizontally disposed portion at the upper end of said elevator portion.

12. An article packaging apparatus comprising a first group of article guides arranged in a row, a second group of article guides arranged in a row alongside the first group of guides, a conveyor disposed above said guides for advancing articles in a single row along a rectilinear path, a first transfer means operated in timed relation with said conveyor for moving a first group of articles in a direction crosswise of said conveyor off the conveyor into said first group of guides, and a second transfer means spaced along the conveyor from said first transfer means and operable in timed relation therewith for moving a second group of articles in a direction crosswise of said rectilinear path and into said second group of guides.

13. An article packaging apparatus comprising first and second groups of upright, article guides, a conveyor disposed above said guides for advancing articles in a single row along a rectilinear path, a first transfer means for moving a first group of articles laterally on the conveyor, a second transfer means spaced along said conveyor from said first transfer means a distance corresponding to the space occupied by said first group of articles on the conveyor for moving a second group of articles laterally ofl the conveyor, means for operating said first and second transfer means in timed relation with said conveyor to alternately move said first and second groups of articles oh the conveyor, and means for conveying the articles removed from the conveyor by the first and second trans fer means respectively into said first and second groups of guides.

14. Anarticle packaging apparatus comprising, an elongated main conveyor for advancing articles along a rectilinear path, a loading station at one side of said main conveyor, first and second sets of auxiliary conveyors extending laterally of said main conveyor at spaced points therealong, transfer means for moving alternate groups of articles off the main conveyor andonto said first and second sets of auxiliary conveyors, and a chute communica-ting with each of the auxiliary conveyors for advancing the articles to said loading station.

15. A cup packaging apparatus comprising an elongated main conveyor for advancing articles along a rectilinear path, a plurality of belt type conveyors extending laterally of one side of said conveyor, transfer means operated in timed relation with said main conveyor for moving groups of articles offthe main conveyor and onto the belt type conveyors, said belt conveyors terminating in stepped relation at the ends remote from the main conveyor, a chute extending laterally from the end of each belt conveyor and disposed at a level below th PP level of the respectivebelt conveyor whereby the .cups tip onto their. side as they drop from the belt conveyor into the chute, said chutes beingtlongitudinally inclined to have thecups roll therealong, .and an upright tubular cup guide communicating with the end of each .chute to receive the cups, said chutes extending eccentric to the upper ends of the respective guides whereby the cups tip back to an upright position as they fall into the guides.

16. An article packaging apparatus comprising a first group of vertically disposed article guides arranged in a row, a second group of vertically disposed article guides arranged in a row alongside the first group of article guides, a conveyor disposed above the upper ends of the article guides for advancing articles along a rectilinear path, means operated in timed relation with said conveyor for moving a first group of articles laterally off the conveyor and into said first group of guides andrfor moving a second group of articles laterally off the conveyor and into said second group of guides, means for releasably retaining the articles in the guides to permit the articles entering each guide to become stacked therein one on top of the other, and means for simultaneously discharging the articles from all of the guides into a box therebelow.

17. An article packaging apparatus comprising a first group of vertically disposed article guides arranged in a row, a second group of vertically disposed article guides arranged in a row alongside the first group of article guides, at con-veyor disposed above the upper ends of the article guides for advancing articles along a rectilinear path, means operated in timed relation with said conveyor for moving a first group of articles laterally on the conveyor and into said first group of guides and for moving a second group of articles laterally off the conveyor and into said second group of guides, first and second article stop means for said article guides, said first article stop means being arranged to extend into the guides to releasably support the articles therein, said second stop means being arranged to extend into said article guides at a point spaced above said first stop means, and means for moving said second stop means into said article guides when said first top means is retracted therefrom to dis charge the articles from the guides.

18. The combination of claim 12 wherein the article guides are circular in cross-section, and a depending guide finger between adjacent ones of said guides extending downwardly therefrom for guiding a box into position below the article guides.

19. An apparatus for dispensing groups of tapered cups comprising an upright tubular cup guide dimensioned to loosely receive the large upper end of the tapered cups, means for feeding tapered cups into the upper end of the tubular guide, a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its ends for movement about a generally horizontal axis intermediate the ends of the guide, a first stop means on the lever adjacent the lower end of the tubular guide adapted to'project into the guide and support a stack of cups therein, a second stop means on the lever spaced above the first stop means'and arranged to project into the tubular guide intermediate the ends of the guide, said second stop means being disposed eccentrically of the guide to engage the tapered side of the cup in the stack which is immediately above the group of cups to be dispensed, and means for operating said lever to move saidsecond stop means into the guide when the first stop means is retracted to effect discharging of the group of cups in the tubular guide below the cup engaged by the second stop means.

Refefnes Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

